Media & ICT Workshop Planning Guide

Commonwealth of Learning Media and ICT Workshop Planning Guide, May 2009

Please PRINT the Relevant Sections

A. ABOUT THIS MEDIA & ICT PLANNING GUIDE

This Media & ICT Planning Guide was written to help you plan and run successful ICT / media workshops which deal with strategic issues such as capacity building; programming; community inclusion etc. It assumes that you have basic experience with ICT / media workshops. It guides you through a series of exercises which will help you to:

Define a clear workshop aim, which contributes to existing organisational strategy.
Set specific objectives, and design activities to achieve these objectives.
Measure the workshop’s impact, and its contribution to organisational strategy.

What this Planning Guide does NOT try to do

This Planning Guide is not a step-by-step guide that you must follow precisely. Rather, the Planning Guide is a workbook that will help you design the most appropriate format for you and your participants to achieve your workshop’s aim.

The Planning Guide does not provide information on basic workshop planning and administration. If you need some advice on this, refer to How to Run a Workshop by Moynihan et al (2004, Amsterdam) which provides some excellent online advice for planning NGO workshops. If you have web access, this manual should be available online: http://www.networklearning.org/library/task,cat_view/gid,42/

This Planning Guide was not written for technical or engineering workshops.

There are many workshop planning books available for purchase, which may also be available to you from a library. For example, this Planning Guide often refers to How to Run a Great Workshop by Nikki Highmore Sims (2006, Pearson Education).

Comments and feedback

We really welcome your feedback on this Planning Guide, and your own ideas and experiences of ICT / media workshops. Please feel free to contact:

Ian Pringle - Education Specialist, Media, Commonwealth of Learning, ipringle@col.org

Planning Guide written by Jerry Watkins, May 2009.

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE?

If you’re reading this Planning Guide, then you probably know already that you want to run a workshop. You may have some idea of who you’re going to invite; where you’re going to hold the workshop; and what you’re going to talk about. That’s a good start.

Now, take a moment to reflect upon what you’re trying to achieve. Remember that in many cultures, a ‘workshop’ is traditionally a place where something is made, created, repaired or even updated by people with special skills and tools, working individually or together.

Therefore the most successful professional or community workshops can be those at which participants work together to achieve a solid outcome; for example a program idea or a distribution plan.

A workshop is not a strategy meeting

You may have attended workshops whose primary aim was to bring together a group of people to create new networks; discuss ideas; or even ‘brainstorm’. At this kind of event, there might be a lot of group discussions, but no really solid outcome. This kind of event might be better described as a ‘meeting’ and so should be planned and run quite differently to a ‘workshop’.

A workshop is not a training seminar

Skills development and training sessions are also often described as ‘workshops’. For example, an expert presenter might be providing new information and knowledge to an audience of producers or technicians. This kind of event is usually more about a one-way exchange of information from the presenter to the audience; and therefore might be better described as a ‘seminar’ than a ‘workshop’. A seminar will usually require far more extensive written assessment of participants than a workshop.

So are you really planning a workshop? An event where a group of participants will work together to achieve a solid outcome? If so, then this Planning Guide should help you. If you’re actually planning a training seminar or a strategy meeting, then you should probably refer to one of the many available books on these subjects.

B1 - Task: workshop details

Create a short title for your workshop:

[type workshop title here.]

Add the name of the main facilitator:

[type facilitator name here.]

Add the main facilitator’s email address:

[type facilitator email here.]

DEFINING A CLEAR WORKSHOP AIM

The aim is what the whole workshop is trying to achieve.

Often, the aim of the workshop will contribute to a wider, longer-term program or strategy.

A successful workshop is one that achieves its aim.

To ensure success, the aim must be achieved within the duration of the workshop. So the facilitator must be very clear about the difference between the aim, objectives and strategies of a workshop. Sometimes the facilitator confuses aim, objectives and strategies; and if the aim of the workshop is unclear or undefined, then it can never succeed!

Let’s look at some examples.

C1 - Example: a clear workshop aim

“To implement a community media programming and distribution plan in order to incorporate local content created by the target community within the regular community radio schedule”.

Analysis

This is a very clear aim which identifies exactly what the participants are expected to achieve by the end of the workshop; and exactly why they’re trying to achieve it.

Using this aim, it will be straightforward for the facilitator to design objectives and appropriate activities.
The success and impact of the workshop will be measured by whether local content is incorporated within the regular schedule.

C2 - Example: mistaking a medium-term strategy for a workshop aim

“To develop an action plan to document good practices; develop training curricula; and support learning programmes, organisational development and smart technology choices”.

Analysis

This is not an aim, since it doesn’t tell participants why they’re attending.
This read more as a list of specific workshop objectives, around which participant activities will be designed.

C3 - Example: mistaking a mission statement for a workshop aim

To strengthen governance and management of community radio and its founding institutions, in order to run radio as a successful social enterprise that supports the mission of development.

Analysis

This aim tells us what the participants are expected to do, and why.
But it is perhaps too ambitious; it reads like a mission statement rather than a clear statement of what will be achieved by the end of the workshop.
It may be difficult for the facilitator to design workshop activities to “strengthen governance” and “run radio as a successful social enterprise”.
How could you measure the short-term impact and success of such a workshop?

Making a strategic contribution

It’s not quite enough just to design a clear and achievable workshop aim. The facilitator should define how the workshop will contribute to the wider strategy of the organisation in a significant way.

For example, the aim of the workshop described in Example C1 (p.5) is:

“To implement a community media programming and distribution plan in order to incorporate local content created by the target community within the regular schedule”.

Analysis

Let’s assume that a health communication NGO is running the workshop and one of the NGO’s wider strategies is “to improve the health and quality of life of poor people by encouraging the sharing of better water sanitation techniques”.

Therefore this workshop will contribute to this wider strategy “by establishing and testing local content and programming formats which support top-down water sanitation messaging”.

By writing down a clear workshop aim and contribution to wider strategy, all stakeholders can see exactly what the workshop is trying to achieve. So now it’s time to confirm the aim of your workshop, and describe how it will contribute to the organisation’s strategy.

C4 - Task: define the workshop aim

Complete this statement: The aim of this workshop is:

[type the workshop aim here.]

C5 - Task: define wider organisational strategy

Complete this statement: The wider strategy to which this workshop will contribute is:

[type the wider strategy here.]

C6 - Task: define contribution to strategy

Complete this statement: By achieving its aim, this workshop will contribute directly to wider strategy...

[describe how the aim will contribute directly to wider strategy.]

(: It really helps your own workshop planning if you complete Exercises C4, C5 and C6 before you continue onto Section D.)

SETTING OBJECTIVES

Objectives

Objectives describe the major steps that participants must take in order to progress from the current situation at the beginning of the workshop to the desired situation at the end of the workshop. The desired situation is what the workshop is aiming towards. If all objectives are fulfilled, then the workshop’s aim has been achieved.

Your own experiences in ICT / media may suggest that difficult challenges can be overcome by teams of people who work together over a period of time to find a realistic solution. You may also know that it is unlikely that a roomful of strangers will find a solution to a difficult capacity building challenge in only a few days. Unfortunately, this is exactly what some standalone workshops expect from their participants, by setting too many unrealistic objectives.

Five (5) General Objectives

The facilitator’s job is to set specific objectives that will realise the workshop aim. These objectives will be different for every workshop and every aim. But to give you some idea, here are some general objectives which often appear in some form in many workshop plans: # Review of the current situation and comparable initiatives.

Design of appropriate response.
Creation of new process / tool / content.
Testing or application of new process / tool / content.
Measurement of success / impact; planning next steps.

Be disciplined

It’s possible to set too many objectives for the time available in one workshop. This might be due to your desire to provide as much information as possible while all your participants are together. Or perhaps your funding body tells you that it has certain objectives that must be achieved during the workshop. To avoid setting too many objectives:

Be disciplined.
Set the minimum number of objectives which fulfill the workshop aim.
Be guided by your workshop’s budget, duration, and what you can reasonably expect from your participants.

There is a good discussion about objectives in How to Run a Workshop by Moynihan et al. (2004, Amsterdam) http://www.networklearning.org/library/task,cat_view/gid,42/

D1 – Example: setting objectives for an HIV/AIDS content creation workshop

A facilitator is planning a workshop on behalf of a Kenyan university radio station and – by following Exercises C4, C5 and C6 – has defined both the aim of the workshop and the wider strategy to which it will contribute:

The aim of this workshop is to repurpose existing HIV/AIDS curriculum material for a university FM radio station.
The wider strategy to which this workshop will contribute is to provide health information to university students.
By achieving its aim, this workshop will contribute to wider strategy by creating local content for broadcast to students and young people via the university FM station; therefore promoting safer health practices.

(: Note that this is definitely a workshop, using our definition. The participants will be coming together to update something (in this case, HIV/AIDS content) that is intended to promote change in the target community of students and youth.)

Here is a set of specific objectives adapted from the Five (5) General Objectives:

Review of the current situation

Current HIV/AIDS education initiatives.
Recent and current station programming.
Health statistics about the target community.

Review of comparable communities / initiatives

What kind of health programming is available through other media?
What lessons can be learned from other initiatives?

Re-purposing existing HIV/AIDS material=

Who is the audience?
What programme ideas do the audience and material suggest?

Producing new content

Scripting, recording, editing.

New content evaluation

What do key stakeholders think about the new content, including: target audience (students and youth); station management; funding body.

Assessment and next steps

Who will be responsible for creating new content after the workshop?
How will this be assessed on an ongoing basis?
How can we broaden this approach beyond HIV/AIDS education?

D2 – Task: Setting Specific Objectives

Review your workshop aim and its contribution to organisational strategy.
Set three (3) specific objectives for the participants to fulfill, which will lead the group to successfully achieve the aim (you can add more later).
Feel free to adapt the Five (5) General Objectives.
Be disciplined!

Objective #1

[type objective 1.]

Objective #2

[type objective 2.]

Objective #3

[type objective 3.]

When you have finished Exercise D2, check your new objectives carefully and ask yourself exactly how the successful completion of these objectives by participants will achieve the workshop aim.

Don’t try to change behaviour

Some workshops try to change the behaviour of the participants or the community that they represent. Or perhaps the facilitator is trying to solve a problem or improve a relationship that has deteriorated over a long period of time. For example:

Making station managers respect community volunteers.
Encouraging marginalised villagers to use a telecentre.

Your single workshop may include activities that could help to improve these situations; but it’s very unlikely that you will be able to change behaviour in a few days. These kinds of problems are very difficult to solve, and a short workshop is probably not the correct tool to use.

SELECTING PARTICIPANTS

After you have set your specific objectives, you can now select the right participants to achieve your workshop aim.

What to expect from participants

“Participation” is a culturally relative word. Some people think they have participated if they simply attend an event. Others think they’ve participated only if they’ve asked questions at every opportunity and won every debate in the workshop (perhaps you shouldn’t invite either of these types of participant to your workshop). It is reasonable to expect that each participant:

Has something valuable to offer to and learn from the workshop.
Will engage in all group activities in order to achieve the workshop aim.
Will respect the voice, skills and knowledge of other participants.

Make these expectations very clear when you invite participants; at the beginning of the workshop; and throughout its duration.

Who?

Community volunteers? Station managers? Social workers? Village elders? Funding body representatives? Young people? The list of who you could invite to participate in the workshop can be a very long one.

However, the participants you should invite will be the key stakeholders identified by your workshop aim. In other words, those people most involved with the outcomes of the workshop. All participants should have a clear and significant contribution to achieving the workshop’s aim and objectives. So invite those who have both the right skills to contribute; as well as skills in contributing.

How many?

The right number to achieve your aim and objectives. The final number of participants will usually depend on budget, venue and duration. A large group may well require multiple facilitators.

How long?

The duration of the workshop will be dictated by participant availability and your budget. In general, the more senior the participants, the shorter the workshop duration will be.

You can perhaps extend the duration of your workshop (or at least reduce your travel budget) by attaching it to an existing event such as a major conference or regional or national meeting which you expect some of your participants will attend. This means that some of your participants may already be traveling to the same place.

Task: selecting participants

Below, list the names of up to ten participants who should be invited to the workshop for the aim to be achieved. Add the name of their organisation. You can add more participants later as needed.